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Golf

Tessa Virtue chucks skate blades for golf clubs

Tessa Virtue is happy with her pitche up to the 17th green at the London Hunt Club with her caddie Scott Moir watching carefully.
The two gold-medal winning Olympic Ice Dancers were at a pro-am for the CP Canadian Women's Open in London, Ont. on Monday August 18, 2014.
Mike Hensen/The London Free Press/QMI Agency

With the biggest stars in women’s golf descending on the Forest City for the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, professional and amateur golfers kicked off the week-long championship tournament with some friendly competition.

Monday’s Golf Canada Foundation Pro-Am game was a welcoming start to what is expected to be a fiercely competitive tournament.

Even the Olympic gold medallist ice-dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir traded their figure skates for golf shoes to participate in the game that paired professional and amateur golfers with sponsors and special guests at the London Hunt and Country Club.

Virtue and her ice-dance partner turned golf caddy were part of a five person team of CP and Toyota invitees. The team teed off at the 15th hole as part of the shotgun game — with Virtue swinging the clubs and Moir trailing closely behind her, carrying her black Callaway golf bag.

“I really like to golf,” Virtue said. “I don’t often play in pro-ams like this, but it’s great to get out. It’s such a nice event for London.”

Virtue, who has only played golf for a few years, spends her summers working on her other love — ice dancing.

“Usually in the summer we are training — eight to nine hours a day, so I rarely get the time to practise (golf),” she said. As for her caddy, Virtue said Moir was an obvious choice. “I knew I needed someone who would calm my nerves and make me feel good and he’s just the person.”

This pro-am pairing was truly a team effort — Moir even hit the ball out of the rough for Virtue on the 18th hole.

“Tessa was talking about this event awhile ago and I was teasing her that I would caddy for her,” Moir said. “I said I would come out with her and I’m glad I did.”

For golfers competing in the CP Women’s Open, like Lorie Kane and Brooke Henderson, the Golf Canada Foundation Pro-Am was an opportunity to get acquainted to the course and its challenges.

While other professional and amateur golfers were arriving and getting settled, taking to the driving range and practice areas, Brooke Henderson, the 16 year-old phenom and Smiths Falls native was teeing off from the first hole with her five-person team.

And though the competition hasn’t quite begun yet, Henderson looks forward to having her family there to cheer her on.

“I have amazing support,” said Henderson, the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world. “This week, I think a lot of them (her family) are coming out to watch. It will be exciting to play for them,” she said.

Monday’s pro-am was in support of the Golf Canada Foundation, a charity organization promoting golf initiatives in Canada.

Assisting women and junior golfers, preserving golf heritage and exposing young children to golf through the Golf in Schools program are all part of the Golf Canada Foundation mandate.

But for Virtue, the pro-am is the perfect way to set the scene for the coming days of competition. “I’m trying not to take myself too seriously. I think that it’s about getting to know people and enjoying the day,” she said.